Sandbach slipped towards the relegation zone after being made to pay for a poor first half display in a 33-22 defeat to Old Halesonians on Saturday.

The visitors scored four tries before the interval to give the hosts a mountain to climb at Bradwall Road.

And Halesonians scored again after the restart, making tries from Jack Leech, Elliot Morris and a penalty try a mere consolation.

A Sandbach spokesman said: “It was an opportunity for an important win lost and with results elsewhere we have slipped further down the league.

“A failure to score when on top and basic mistakes were critical.

“Though for significant parts of the game we were on top, being 30 points down five minutes into the second half we had given ourselves too much to do.

“We have a week off to regroup but need to restart our season if we are not to find ourselves embroiled in a relegation scrap.”

Full-back Ollie Nunn knocked over a penalty for Sandbach in a first half to forget. A penalty try gave them some hope as they improved after the restart, and then Leech won the race to a Ben Elliot kick to score.

With three minutes to go Morris repeated the trick from another Elliot grubber kick, and the conversion brought Sandbach to within 11 points.